Peak Performance w/ Roland Morley-Brown

Roland Morley-Brown, seasoned mountain goat of the Southern Hemisphere (and our good friend!), lives on a higher frequency than most. He spends most of his time out of cell service, usually hiking up a mountain, searching for that next big line. Thankfully, our email did find him well, and he blessed us with a quick recap of his latest adventures. Read about what RMB's been up to, get inspired, and live vicariously through his adventures down South while we wait for the snow to fly.

Single Cone Summit, The Remarkables, New Zealand

July 10th, 2026: Matariki, also known as Māori New Year. Each year, I try to plan a little mission centered around this day. This year I thought it would be cool to watch the sunrise from the top of Single Cone, the highest peak in The Remarkables range, which tops out at 2319m above Queenstown, New Zealand. Beginning at 4am and hiking in the dark solo was a pretty daunting mission, and then ultimately getting into the high alpine and climbing some pretty sketchy shit with only a headlamp for light had me a little shook.

But standing on the tippy-top, watching the insanely beautiful sunrise cast its first light and slowly illuminate everything below me had me feeling like Simba, haha, and that made it all worthwhile. I hung out up there for a while and soaked it all in, then rode back down. Although I'd achieved my goal, I felt I needed more, so that same afternoon I climbed all the way back up and watched the sunset from the very same spot. I don't know what was more sketchy, climbing up in the dark or riding down in the dark, either way, it got me juiced and was super stoked to have ticked off a very fulfilling mission on this special day for the indigenous peoples of New Zealand.

Terminator

I've ridden Terminator Chute many times, but never like this. Scoping it from a distance, it seemed like the usual (very manageable) mandatory drops were going to be a little bigger than I was used to. Dropping in and riding toward the first drop, I instantly realized that I'd totally underestimated not only the size of the drop but also the snow quality in the chute. Although it was fun to ride, I was really bummed because having to stop above the drops really killed the flow of the line, but, it really do be like that sometimes, so I was hyped I just made it outta there in one piece.

East Face

This chute off the top of the East Face of Single Cone very rarely lines up. It's super exposed, steep, and only gets good light first thing in the morning. I had actually scoped it on that mission earlier in the season up Single Cone, but it hadn't quite filled in properly. However, after this most recent snowfall, I felt it was now or never and I decided to pull the trigger and rip one down it. I'm really happy it worked out.

Grand Couloir

Grand Couloir is the massive main couloir that extends from the peak of Single Cone down to Lake Alta. It's big, wide and beautiful. I've ridden it many times over the years. So this time I felt like I needed a challenge. I'm always on the lookout for alternate entrances into basic-looking lines, so this one quickly became a must-do on my list. Entering into Grand Couloir from the northeast ridge of Single Cone was definitely not a chill climb. Balancing on a knife edge, strapping in, I was pretty much packing myself haha. But once I was in and riding and out of the danger zone above those huge death cliffs, I really enjoyed this one.